p
Down to
THE
PRINT VOLUME 1
EARTH
ISSUE1
IN THIS ISSUE TRACE YOUR WASTE A guide to properly disposing of waste, page 8
(UN)FILTERED
An investigation on the school drinking water, page 4
HOW YOU CAN HELP Organizations you can contribute towards to do your part, page 14
THE NEWS MAGAZINE OF HERITAGE STUDENT MEDIA VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 OCTOBER 2019
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
PHOTO EDITOR
JOSH WHALEN JASMIN DU MANAGING EDITOR
ENGAGEMENT LEAD
CAMI BOYACK SONIA SHAH COPY EDITOR
PODCAST PRODUCER
MEAGHAN CRAWFORD ROSS OTERI DESIGN EDITOR
BUSINESS MANAGER
LONNA LARSEN RICKY SHARMA
REPORTERS
Alayna Mayo Amariah Nielsen Maria Vargas Reham Azab
Sanjana Natarajan Shane Edghill Sonia Shah Zainab Anjum
DESIGNERS
Daphne Sipper Heath Johnson Emma Mattson Karen Kim Mihira Kandula
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Gaby Mendoza Poonam Dhanjal Kelsey Crabtree Raniya Alshaikh Ryleigh Eades
ADVISER
LEAH watersl@friscoisd.org WATERS (469)-633-5900
PUBLICATION POLICY
The Print is a school-sponsored, quarterly magazine that is created through the efforts of Heritage Student Media and its sponsors. The Print distributes 1,000 copies to the student body. All names and persons listed and featured have contributed voluntarily, and all facts were checked with those mentioned and viewed by professionals. Any views presented within The Print and its companion website do not necessarily reflect those of Heritage High School or Frisco Independent School District. All content produced is available at HeritageStudentMedia.com. Submit letters to the editor at ThePrintHeritage@gmail.com.
JOSH WHALEN
THE PRINT
H
to our readers,
ere’s the thing: we know that it’s ironic to print a magazine dedicated to environmental conservation on dead trees. But here’s why we did it. We did it for the believers and deniers of global warming. We did it for the students and clubs who are working to make a difference in their world. We did it for the activists, for the individuals who are altering their lifestyle to make a change. We did it to address the stereotypes, from our school’s water fountains to the concept of climate change. We did it for the people who want to help out but don’t know how. And most importantly, we did it for us. Humans. Those who inhabit planet Earth. This is our home, and there’s no back up. Here’s to our environment and, more importantly, the billions of people inside of it. (PS: Once you have finished reading, check out our back cover to see what you can do now)
JOSH WHALEN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ON THE COVER
Plastic pollution has accelerated the extinction of fish species and other aquatic life. Read more on page 12 Photo by Madison Padilla Cover Design by Lonna Larsen
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DESIGN BY LONNA LARSEN
WHAT’S NSIDE Photo by Raniya Alshaikh, (UN)FILTERED
Photo by Ryleigh Eades, WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Photo by Kelsey Crabtree, WORLD OF GOOD
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(UN)FILTERED
6
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
8
TRACE YOUR WASTE
An in-depth investigation into the school’s drinking water
Freshman Aya Abuhijleh opens up about her zero-waste lifestyle
A guide to properly disposing of waste
10
WORLD OF GOOD
11
BRICK BY BRICK
12
WORLDS APART
14
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Meet some of the clubs on campus promoting environmental change
AP Environmental science practices a new way to reduce waste
Two contrasting viewpoints on climate change go head-to-head to present challenging perspectives
Local and global organizations aim to get community members involved
Photo by Kelsey Crabtree, HOW YOU CAN HELP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Students wanted to know how clean the school’s water was. The Print investigated.
By Reham Azab & Sonia Shah Reporter & Engagement Lead
E
veryday after biking to school, senior Lulia Pan takes a quick sip of water from the G-hall water fountain.
To conduct the water tests, senior Reham Azab and sophomore Maria Vargas pour water from the fountain into the beakers. Photos by Raniya Alshaikh
Pan drinks from the fountain because she says the water doesn’t have a taste, unlike bottled water. She is in the minority, as more than half of participants in a water study conducted by The Print said they never drink from the fountain because it’s “disgusting,” “hot” and “probably full of chemicals.” While most Americans have access to safe drinking water, potentially harmful contaminants—from arsenic to copper to lead—have been found in the tap water of every state in the nation. The Print wanted to know where the school stood on the spectrum. Chemicals are used in our daily life from drinking, preparing food, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, brushing teeth, watering the garden and even grooming the dog. Chemicals are also used in commerce when fabricating, processing, diluting, cooling, producing and transporting products. As a result, it is plausible that chemicals can make their way into drinking water.1 Methods of chemical analysis and knowledge of toxicity are available for only a few thousand of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These statistics make us question: how safe is the water we drink? The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) gave Frisco’s water system a “superior” rating, which is the highest rating water can receive. It exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards. “America’s water as a whole is unbelievably clean,” Former AP Environmental Science Teacher Bryan Beck said. “Most municipal areas are cleaned through a three-step process and even rural areas run two-step systems.” Students like senior Sriya Gottumukhala wonder if water is cleaned with such efficiency through a four-step 1 Denchak, Melissa. “Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know.” NRDC, 17 Sept. 2019
4
( U N ) F I LT DESIGN BY KAREN KIM
process, then why do students still question the quality of their school’s water? Why don’t they drink it as often as bottled water? This all has to do with how we perceive the taste of water.2 “[The water from the water fountain] is okay, but I don’t want to drink from it,” freshman Anissa Abdul said. “Bottled water tastes more fresh and less like leaves.” Students like Abdul and senior Nimra Mahmood are part of the majority that question the quality of the school’s water, although they are unsure as to why fountain water tastes different to them compared with bottled water. “I can’t put my finger on it,” Mahmood said. “The water from the fountain did not taste the same [as bottled water] at all.” Beck said the taste of water is usually dependent on the last thing you ate. This can sometimes be a bigger factor than what the water is dissolving. Beck also added that taste is relative and that if a person expects to dislike the water, they will think it tastes bad.
“I feel like people say [the fountain water] tastes disgusting because they know it’s from a water fountain,” sophomore Rawan Azab said. “Their mind is set to think that it’s going to taste worse than bottled water.” The Print reporters, senior Reham Azab and sophomore Maria Vargas, conducted a series of tests on the water from the school’s water fountains using the “Health Metric Drinking Water Test.” This tested for lead levels, pH, total alkalinity, chlorine, hardness, nitrate, copper content and a bacteria check based on a sample provided from the cafeteria. Drinking water is delivered through lead pipes, which can deteriorate and cause lead to seep into the water, along with copper. Lead can increase the risk of high blood pressure and kidney damage, but this will not occur if there is less than 15 parts-per-million (ppm) of lead in the water.3 The optimal pH for water is 7, meaning that it is neutral; total alkalinity is what keeps the water’s pH neutral, with 20-200 ppm being ideal. Chlorine is put into water to disinfect it. Chlorine exposure has immediate health effects, whether it be short-term or long-term. Short-term effects include skin irritation, chest tightness and wheezing. Long-term exposure is potentially linked to diseases of the lung and tooth corrosion. When chlorine is used in small doses, such as in levels up to 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L
or 4 parts per million (ppm), it is considered safe in drinking water. At this level, no harmful health effects are likely to occur. The hardness of water determines how many minerals (dissolved calcium and magnesium) are in it; this is not harmful but 60-180 ppm is preferred. If more than 10 ppm of nitrite or nitrate is in water, there is a potential health risk to infants.4 Using water from the school water fountain, the test concluded that the lead level results were negative, meaning that there was less than 15 ppm of lead in the water. After it was concluded that the water was indeed safe to drink, Azab and junior Sonia Shah conducted an experiment testing whether students can taste the difference between the school’s fountain water and bottled water. The Print staff set up a table in the cafeteria on Sept. 24 where 50 students were handed two different cups of water and were asked their opinions. Each cup had either Nestlé Pure Life or fountain water. The results concluded 46% of participants did not necessarily prefer the bottled water, whereas 54% did. The stigma surrounding the quality of the school’s fountain water may not change anytime soon. But that doesn’t bother Pan. She said she believes it’s important that the water is up to quality standards. Because if it’s not, she said it could lead to greater health risks and consequences in the future.
2 Tan, Zhai Yun. “How Do We Get Our Drinking Water In The U.S.?” NPR, NPR, 14 Apr. 2016 3 “Potential Well Water Contaminants and Their Impacts.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Aug. 2019 4 “Nitrate in Drinking Water.” Minnesota Department of Health.
“America’s water as a whole is unbelievably clean.
Most municipal areas are cleaned Former AP through a three-step process and even Environmental Science rural areas run two-step systems.” Teacher Bryan Beck
ERED
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
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waste not want not
Freshman Aya Abuhijleh shops at her local Sprouts Oct. 6 with reusable bag in hand. Photo by Poonam Dhanjal
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DESIGN BY DAPHNE SIPPER
The lifestyle of a zero-waste advocate
T
By Meaghan Crawford Copy Editor
he smell of scrambled eggs wafts through the crevices of her bedroom door early on a Saturday morning. Freshman Aya Abuhijleh’s nose wrinkles in distaste as she rolls out of bed, ready to start the weekly bike trek to Sprouts with her reusable bags. On the week days, Abuhijleh’s morning begins with a zero-waste, natural Palestinian olive oil shampoo bar in her hand as she lathers her hair in the shower. She does this with the water off, turning the handle on only when she first gets in and when she rinses off. It’s tedious, but she does it. All because she cares for the environment. Living as a zero-waste vegan in Frisco may not be a common demographic, but Abuhijleh vows that it’s a viable option for everyone. “The biggest reason why a lot of people don’t do what I’m doing is because they want convenience,” Abuhijleh said. “I try to incorporate as much convenience into zerowaste as I can.” In her personal life, Abuhijleh said her relatives have expressed disapproval of her zero-waste initiatives and vegan diet by shutting down her compost bin and cooking eggs in the morning to persuade her to eat animal products. “My relatives in Palestine weren’t a fan of my diet,” Abuhijleh said. “A big aspect of [our culture] is eating meat because all of our food has meat in it. Animal products are everything where I’m from; if you don’t eat them, then you don’t eat.” With access to zero-waste food options at her local Sprouts, Abuhijleh still finds it difficult to purchase some environmentally friendly products locally and has to turn to using online sources such as Amazon instead. “One of the main struggles is if you can’t find something near you or somewhere where you can drive, I’m forced to go online where it’s shipped in plastic,” she said. For Abuhijleh, do-it-yourself and natural products make up the majority of her
“
possessions. From toothpaste to compost bins, she has tried to find ways to minimize every step of waste in her life. “I started with a journal where I wrote down all aspects of my life [that produced waste],” Abuhijleh said. “School supplies, personal hygiene, food—I wrote down the things I get from that category that produce waste and then one by one I found an alternate for it.” In her opinion, having friends and family who don’t follow her lifestyle doesn’t make Abuhijleh judge others based on their choices, but she has taken the initiative to make changes to help the environment on a smaller scale. “I’m constantly experimenting and sharing with people how to do things,” Abuhijleh said. “I have so many friends who have changed their habits because of things I taught them. I have this friend who always brought Ziploc bags for lunch every day, and now he brings reusable bags.” Even though she has a bamboo toothbrush, makes her own toothpaste, owns reusable cotton pads, doesn’t purchase plastic peanut butter jars and eliminates other extraneous waste products from her life, Abuhijleh has her sights set on a new goal for herself: her own car. “I’m raising money to get an electric car because there are electric cars that are cheaper than you would think,” Abuhijleh said. “Nissan has an electric car that, if you buy a used one, it only costs $2,000. My dad told me he would pay for half so it’s really only $1,000.” The biggest piece of advice Abuhijleh has for others conscious about their environmental impact is to start small. “It’s going to overwhelm you if you do what I did and transition all at once,” Abuhijleh said. “I would start out with bringing reusable bags to the store, then I personally changed my skincare routine and cut out a lot of [plastic packaging]. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.”
Animal products are everything where I’m from; if you don’t eat them, then you don’t eat.” Aya Abuhijleh
Zero def/ Waste: /zerowast/ noun
A lifestyle focused on the prevention of resources that encourages all products in one’s life to be reused to conserve materials and reduce trash outtake.
2 Billion
The amount of disposable razors used each year and thrown away
4 Months The recommended time to use your toothbrush before replacing it
$170/mile
The average cost to commute to work/school in a car annually Graphics from the Noun Project
Among the items set inside her reusable bag, Abuhijleh uses a bamboo toothbrush and reusable razor. Photos by Gaby Mendoza
STUDENT FEATURE
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Is it plastic? No
Is it food/plant material? No
No
Is it electronic? Yes No
Is it chemical? Yes
Recycle
Yes
Yes
Trash
Yes
Don’t see your waste? Check out friscotexas.gov/1144/ EnvironmentalCollection-Center for more information!
Compost
Can it be Yes cleaned? No
Hazardous Waste
On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill, and $65-$75 to incinerate it.
85 million
Bryan Beck, Former AP Environmental Science teacher
“People are too afraid to recycle because they think they might just screw up.”
tons of paper are used annually by Americans; about 680 pounds per person
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Sources from South Carolina - County of Lexington; University of Southern Indiana. Graphics from the Noun Project
DESIGN BY EMMA MATTSON & HEATH JOHNSON
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Trace your
waste
By Shane Edghill & Karen Kim Reporters An old glass bottle. A used can of spray paint. An old computer monitor. All of these items are waste, yet they all must be disposed in different ways. Use this flow chart as a guide to properly dispose of waste in your life. Feel free to tear this out and hang up next to your trash and recycle bins.
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Is it clean?
The United States annually produces about 230 million tons of waste, which is around 4.6 pounds per person per day. Fewer than 25% of it is recycled, and the rest is incinerated or thrown away in landfills. This can have a harmful impact on the wildlife, the atmosphere and the environment.
Yes
Access to compost?
Cans or tins?
No
Great!
Do you have waste?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Can it be reused? No
Is it metal? No
Is it glass? No
Is it paper? No
2 million
gallons of fresh water can be contaminated by A single quart of motor oil.
500,000
trees are cut down to produce the Sunday newspaper.
YEE-HAW
Annually, the U.S. produces enough plastic film to shrinkwrap Texas.
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INFOGRAPHIC
WORLD OF GOOD
Young activists created groups focused on helping the environment Heat Wave
By Maria Vargas Reporter With dirt caked under their fingernails and pieces of trash in their hands, student volunteers wipe the sweat from their faces. It’s the fourth Saturday of the month, and on the side of the road is where you will find the Humanitarian Environmental Animal Team [HEAT], hard at work cleaning up the community through their Adopt-aStreet event. HEAT is an environmentally oriented club led by junior Nishita Koneru. “Our mission statement is to keep the environment safe and positive,” Koneru said. “Nowadays, we are so caught in the act of wasting everything. As a team, we strive to reduce and recycle and aim to spread the word about positive activism and look out for the world around us in order to keep it amazing for future generations.” The club has multiple projects aimed to help students get involved within the community and give back to the environment. “We have fundraisers for every occasion,” Koneru said. “We have [opportunities] such as Adopt-a-Street every month. [We have an] animal fundraiser, Valentine’s Day fundraiser and different holiday themes to raise money to give animals and the environment the safekeeping they deserve.” Sophomore Kate Shaw is a part of the humanitarian effort of the club. “HEAT is a great opportunity to get involved in your community and your school,” Shaw said. “You get to experience new things and you get to help others in more than one way.”
H.E.A.T. members pick up trash starting at the Coit-Eldorado intersection, finishing up at the Panther Creek neighborhood. The student volunteers wore this vest on Sunday while the club worked on their Adopt-a-Street project.
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Full Plate
By Alayna Mayo Reporter As she watched her fellow students take full meals to the trash, senior Harsha Sankaran’s heart began to break. “I grew up seeing people in school just throwing away food, almost carelessly,” Sankaran said. “It was unsettling, especially knowing that it could go somewhere that it was needed.” The “Trays to Tummies” program started with an aim to minimize food waste and local hunger simultaneously. “All of that food, every crumb of it is someone’s hard work wasted,” Sankaran said. “[Trays to Tummies] is to combat [hunger and food waste] in a really simple way.” Students can donate unopened and uneaten food to the black buckets located next to the trash cans in the cafeteria. After that, the food is distributed to the local community where the amount of waste and hunger is reduced. The work for Trays to Tummies really began nearly two years ago, largely due to former sponsor Dr. Katey Gray. While Sankaran is set to graduate this year, her program isn’t. “Students can apply to be on the committee of five that will lead the program henceforth,” Sankaran said. “The goal is to provide people the tools they need to be successful.” And that includes making sure students have full bellies in order to learn to their fullest potential.
Students in the cafeteria place their leftovers in a black bin every day. They are able to put unopened and uneaten foods and to be donated to the local community.
DESIGN BY MIHIRA KANDULA
Green Thumb
By Maria Vargas Reporter With soil on their hands and flowers in the garden beds, the courtyard lights up with a splash of colors. The flowers fill the space where there once was just concrete and sand. The members of the Environmental club are the ones who make this possible every first Saturday of the month with their gardening sessions. Senior Akshitha Sreerangapuri is the founder of the Environmental Club. “I started this club last year as a way to raise awareness about current environmental issues,” Sreerangapuri said. The Environmental Club provides opportunities and activities for students to get involved in our community; one of their first activities of the year is battery recycling. “I know a lot of classes focus on paper recycling, so we wanted to focus on a different aspect of what we can do to recycle,” Sreerangapuri said. “We will also do campaigns and participate in fundraisers.” These events are also a great way to get volunteer hours that help students give back to the earth. “The question isn’t why we should help the environment; it’s why we shouldn’t,” Sreerangapuri said. (Pictured left to right) Nishita Koneru, Harsha Sankaran, and Akshitha Sreerangapuri pose for a group photo of our environmental organizations and clubs on Sept. 25. Photos by Kelsey Crabtree
Akshitha Sreerangapuri hangs up a flyer for the Environmental Club in the hallway. She wanted to raise awareness for the club that she leads every week.
BRICK BY BRICK
AP Environmental students recycle plastic into building materials
How to make an ecobrick
STEP 1
Gather materials: you will need an empty water bottle and some used plastic that would normally be thrown away. Set aside some undried concrete for later use.
STEP 2
Fill the empty bottle with all excess plastic materials. Make sure to pack it in tight until there is no more space at the top. Your ecobrick should feel rock-solid.
STEP 3
Set your completed ecobrick in a measured amount of wet concrete. You can purchase concrete from any home improvement store, such as Home Depot or Lowe’s. The ecobrick will reach its full strength in around 28 days. However, it will likely be ready for use before then. Photos by Kelsey Crabtree
O
Completed ecobricks made by former AP Environmental Science students on May 14 form a circle in the courtyard Photo by Kelsey Crabtree
ur campus may not have a Greta Thunberg. But it does have 162 students who contribute towards zero-waste in their AP Environmental Science (APES) class. This means they wipe down tables with cloth towels, compost biodegradable waste, recycle glass and metal and create projects with 100% used materials. Former AP Environmental Science Teacher Bryan Beck implemented eco-friendly policies in his classes to promote environmental sustainability, including recovering plastic, saving electricity and managing paper waste. “I think everything we do in here is sustainable,” Beck said. “We sequester plastic, we shred paper, we turn the lights off whenever we can, [we’re] trying to use less paper this year.” All of the energy-efficiency, however, does not only extend to classroom procedures. For class assignments, students are expected to reuse resources; one lab, for example, involves making recycled paper from other students’ quizzes. The lab intends to teach students the best way to limit waste production is to reduce. “I think [the recycled paper lab] shows them that we want a lot of things that we think we need, and if we realize that we need less, then we can get away with using less and still have the same standard,” Beck said. Using less resources is one of several ways to avoid the depletion of resources. Starting in January of last year, Beck introduced a new approach to disposing of excess plastic. He introduced an idea used in foreign countries who are combating the same waste problem: ecobricks. A central part of the ecobrick is plastic. Ecobricks are reusable bricks made out of plastic water bottles filled with food wrappers, bottle labels and miscellaneous waste students would usually throw away. “The purpose behind ecobricks is that people, in America especially, think that recycling is just as easy as throwing something in a bin,” Beck said. “We need to realize that recycling has an energy cost, it has a time element and things
By Zainab Anjum Reporter
that are recycled aren’t of high quality. Recycling is not as easy as reducing and reusing.” Seniors Katie Veverka and Josh Flores, alumni of APES, participated in the ecobricks project in their 4A class. Building ecobricks increased environmental awareness in Veverka and Flores. “I didn’t expect to learn as much as I did,” Veverka said. “I guess because... you saw how much plastic our APES class produced and you’re like, ‘That’s kind of a lot.’” Flores said he understands more about the environment now than he did before taking APES. Creating ecobricks led him to realize that people are taking action to execute viable solutions to environmental problems. “People are actually doing something about the environment about how like every little thing matters,” Flores said. “It was really cool to see Mr. Beck making a change in our school and our science department and everything.” Students taking APES last year constructed a fire pit out of the ecobricks they created in class. This year, senior students will create a brick with their name and Class of 2020. They will line the courtyard garden with the bricks, which Beck believes will be a memorable project for seniors. “It will truly become an alumni garden,” Beck said. “When you come back, you’ll see your name.” Beck’s hope is that students will learn more from the class than just content. According to him, students who try to make a difference in the environment take away a lot more from this class than others who are in APES for the credit. “I’ve got kids that are bringing in ecobricks from last year, I’ve got kids that say they’ve planted a garden, or they went out and helped their parents do something in the environment, or they volunteered somewhere,” Beck said. “I think for those kids, yes, some things may have changed. I think this class is one of those classes where you’ll wake up in five, ten years and be glad you took it.”
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT
11
Climate change is part of a natural cycle By Amariah Nielsen Reporter
12
A
WORLDS
bout three hundred and eighty million years ago, there were trees in the Antarctic. One hundred million years ago, tropical forests stretched across the Americas while giant reptilians dominated the Earth. Twenty thousand years ago, our world was ice. But what caused an entire planet go from a teeming rainforest to an ice cube? The answer is climate change. And despite the popularly politicized notion that humans are the Alpha and Omega of a shifting climate, the environment’s changing is a natural process. Since its beginning, Earth has followed a cycle; high carbon dioxide levels warm the planet which causes the plants to flourish. During photosynthesis, plants absorb most excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and release oxygen. A drop in carbon dioxide causes a drop in temperature, which then leads to a global freeze. Eventually, the ice thaws and the cycle repeats. The shouting match between politicians, scientists and world leaders about global warming — and humanity’s contribution to it — dominates daily headlines. News outlets cite scientific studies and United Nations reports, connecting human actions to the changing climate. In a 2013 United Nations report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claimed that humans were the dominant cause for 95 percent of the planet’s warming. They predicted that shrinking ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic would cause sea levels to rise by three feet by 2100. But a week later, the Heartland Institute —a nonprofit research and education organization that focuses on environmental protection—denounced the
DESIGN BY EMMA MATTSON
IPCC’s findings, stating that the human impact on climate was small. “There’s no question that humans have had an impact on the environment,” said H. Sterling Burnett, Managing Editor at the Heartland Institute. “I live in North Texas, which was at one time something we call the Great Plains. There were no trees except along rivers. It was native; it was prairie.” Burnett said there are more trees in Dallas since the end of the Ice Age because buffalo and Indians would cut down the trees during migration. “So we’ve changed the environment and when you change the environment, often you change the local weather systems. That’s different than saying a very small percentage of carbon dioxide, which is a small overall greenhouse gas, is changing the global climate.” Global temperatures are rising—albeit minimally—and glaciers are melting. That’s one fact that both sides agree on. But this is no different than it was 15 million years ago during the Mid-Miocene period, one of Earth’s most recent prolonged warming events. During this time, the Earth saw mass extinction of terrestrial and aquatic life caused by changes in oceanic circulation. Not humans. Humans were mere specks in the global machinations. But that doesn’t mean humans aren’t hurting the environment. Oceans today are seeing a rapid extinction in fish and other aquatic life caused by overfishing and plastic pollution. Deforestation, like the recent forest fire that consumed 7,200 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest. The poaching of African Rhinos for their ivory horns. The year is now 2019 and the planet is changing. The planet is a living entity following its natural course beyond humanity’s control. We need to take a critical look at the policies and legislation that takes money away from desperate people in urgent situations because of a fear that the Western world might have a hotter future.
APART
T
welve years. Ten years. Eighteen months. It seems like the countdown clock for the destruction of our planet and everything living on it is getting closer and closer to zero. Experts on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now believe that unless we take immediate action, the effects of global warming will become irreparable. Even our own government continues to deny the very existence of climate change—let alone acknowledge its cause—by ignoring multiple reports from 13 intelligence agencies and over 300 scientists. As hurricanes, floods and wildfires create countless victims of climate disasters, it’s important to understand what exactly is causing it all. To put it frankly, the number one cause of climate change is humans. And before you snap this magazine shut, let me tell you why. Climate scientists with NASA attribute the rapid warming of our planet to a phenomenon known as the “greenhouse effect,” which is a process where gases in the Earth’s atmosphere—such as carbon, nitrogen and methane—trap heat to keep the Earth’s temperature at a sustainable level. Within the last twenty years the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere has increased by 35% globally, which has led to the trapping of excess heat and thus warming the global climate. Of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, carbon dioxide tops the list at 82%. Think back to freshman year biology. Remember the carbon cycle? Well, the most important players in the carbon cycle are the plants, which trap atmospheric carbon and keep the planet from overheating. So when the plants are gone, the carbon is not absorbed and is instead released to the atmosphere and increasing global temperatures. Flash forward to the devastating fires in the Amazon Rainforest. Almost 7,000 square miles of lush, green fauna just incinerated. For perspective, 7,000 square miles is nearly the
Photo by Gaby Mendoza
Two reporters share their differing perspectives on the changing climate
size of New Jersey. And the fires aren’t the only threat the Amazon faces. Within the last 50 years, nearly 300,000 square miles of the rainforest have been deforested with the intention to repurpose the land for agricultural and livestock profits. Once again, for perspective, that’s an area larger than Texas. Both the fires and rapid deforestation are a direct result of humanity’s greed. Humans routinely place a higher premium on the economy over the environment. But the only problem is, what goes around comes around. The “lungs of the Earth” and a major carbon sink of the world is under attack. Climate change is an incredibly complex issue, so naturally, there are multiple perspectives on its causes. One such perspective is the Gaia Hypothesis which was put forth in 1979 by British scientist James Lovelock; it classifies Earth as a self-regulating system that will, among other things, adapt to an increased global temperature. While this may have been true several decades ago when economic exploitation of the environment was not as extreme, this theory cannot be applied as a solution to the imminent environmental issues we face. Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, linger in our atmosphere for hundreds of years. If we expect the Earth to purify itself, the effects would not be felt by this generation or the next. Climate change remains a human problem—one that still compels a human solution. Within the last century, we have made a mess of epic proportions across our planet, and it is up to us to clean it up. After all, planet Earth was supporting life long before we were here, and it is up to us to ensure that it remains habitable for all species long after we are gone.
Humans have played an integral role in the warming of Earth
By Sanjana Natarajan Reporter
OPINION COMMENTARY
13
help
how you can Local organizations and charities offer opportunities to lend a hand to the environment By Alayna Mayo | Reporter
Clean It & Green It
With t-shirts, games, food, bounce houses, face painting and environmental informational booths, the Clean it and Green it organization assigns locations for volunteers to clean up as well as sign ups for the Adopt-a-Street program from mid-February to early April. Possible locations include streets, parks, school campuses or neighborhoods where volunteers participate five times a year. The Clean it & Green it program is also coordinated by Kinson and Marie who can be contacted at (972) 292-5914 and (972) 292-5904.
Chunk Your Junk
Another local program—located at the Environmental Collection Center—is Chunk Your Junk, which assists Frisco residents in disposing of household objects in an environmentally-sustainable manner. Items collected include medication, Styrofoam, cardboard, yard waste, trash, metal, donations, household chemicals and electronic waste. This program takes special items that are normally dangerous to dispose of and repurposes them or gets rid of them in a safe way for the environment. For more information, visit www.friscotexas.gov/Chunk-Your-Junk.
Teens4Green
Frisco offers several programs for environmental awareness, one of them including the Teens4Green organization. Teens4Green describes itself as an “awardwinning, student-run club that strives to improve environmental sustainability. This club actively conducts team projects and promotes environmental awareness in Frisco.” In 2017, Teens4Green received the Texas Environmental Awards for Youth from The Texas Commission of Environmental Equality. The Teens4Green program is coordinated by Molly Kinson and Julianah Marie. For more information, visit www.friscotexas.gov/ teens4green.com
Greenpeace fund
The charity Greenpeace Fund, coordinated by Diego Johansen, a Supporter Relations Officer, uses donations to protect the environment and promote solutions for environmental issues. “Our campaigns revolve around protecting the planet from the threat of global warming, the destruction of ancient forests, deterioration of our oceans and the threat of a nuclear disaster,” Johansen said. Greenpeace Fund can be contacted by phone at (1-800) 722-6995) or for more information on how to contribute, visit Greenpeace.org.
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DESIGN BY HEATH JOHNSON & LONNA LARSEN
STOP AND HELP
Located at the corner of First and Walnut, the Frisco Environmental Collection Center hosts a variety of waste-collection services and events, including Chunk Your Junk and Teens4Green. Photo by Kelsey Crabtree
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STUDENT INVOLVEMENT & HOUSE AD
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DONE READING. NOW WHAT? Reuse these pages to: make cute envelopes weave strips into coasters create a gift bag turn it into some origami design a fun collage use as wrapping paper Not feeling creative? That’s cool, too. give your copy back to us in A124 and we will turn it into recycled paper that can be used in our Heritage classrooms. If you’re craving more, you can: follow us on social media at @ThePrintHeritage read more stories at HeritageStudentMedia.com wait for our next issue that will be distributed in December Hotlines and charities: Greenpeace | Greenpeace.org Rainforest Alliance | Rainforest-Alliance.org Emergency events and spills or releases should be reported through the National Response Center: 1 (800) 424-8802 Frisco Environmental Collection Center: (972) 292-5900